^clill 


y> 


.V 


,;,,■  y  of  Priiic 


"/, 


•^   JUN  18  1897  ^ 


No,...: — _.„ 


ISLAM; 


OR,   THE 


RELIGION  OF  THE  TURK. 


BY 


REV.  E.   M.   WHERRY,  D.  D. 


AMERICAN  TRACT  SOCIETY, 

lO   KAST    23d    ST.,    NEW    YORK. 


COPYRIGHT,  1896, 
BY  AMERICAN  TRACT  SOCIETY. 


ISLAM; 

OR,   THE 

RELIGION  OF  THE  TURK. 


The  recent  atrocities  in  Arme- 
nia have  served  to  bring  to  our 
notice  the  religion  of  Islam.  The 
spectacle  of  a  mighty  potentate 
deliberately  planning  the  destruc- 
tion of  myriads  of  his  subjects  has 
filled  the  civilized  world  with  hor- 
ror and  indignation.  The  calm  de- 
liberation with  which  these  plans 
have  been  executed  has  been  no 
less  awful  to  contemplate.  Many 
have  been  ready  to  doubt  the  har- 
rowing details  of  cities  pillaged, 
men  murdered,  women  outraged, 
and  helpless  girls  carried  captive 
to  be  enslaved  in  a  Moslem  ha- 
rem. And  when  the  Sultan  at 
Constantinople  calmly  denies  that 
these    outrages    have    been    com- 

3 


ISLAM ;  OR, 

mitted,  and  yet  continues  them  at 
frequent  intervals,  coolly  daring 
the  nations  of  Europe  to  inter- 
vene, our  indignation  is  thorough- 
ly aroused.  We  ask  ourselves 
how  men  who  profess  themselves 
to  be  the  servants  of  the  merci- 
ful God  can  be  the  perpetrators 
of  such  fiendish  cruelty :  we  won- 
der how  men  can  be  at  once  so  re- 
ligious and  yet  so  devilish. 

The  enigma  of  the  Turkish  char- 
acter finds  its  solution  in  his  relig- 
ion. The  sword  is  consecrated  to 
the  cause  of  Islam.  It  may  be  un- 
sheathed to  repel  an  enemy  or  to 
make  a  convert.  All  Christians  are 
regarded  as  idolaters,  who  may  be 
destroyed  at  any  time  without  sin 
whenever  the  interests  of  Islam  re- 
quire their  removal.  ''  Kill  the  idol- 
aters," said  the  prophet,  "  where- 
soever ye  shall  find  them,  and  take 
them  prisoners,  and  besiege  them, 
and  lay  wait  for  them  in  every  con- 
venient place.  But  if  they  shall 
repent,  and  observe  the  appointed 
times  of  prayers,  and  pay  the  legal 
4 


THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  TURK. 

alms,  dismiss  them  freely."  Quran, 
chap.  IX.,  5.  The  fact,  then,  that 
any  Christians  have  been  permit- 
ted to  live  in  a  country  under  Mos- 
lem rule  is  evidence  to  the  Moslem 
that  he  has  exercised  a  marvellous 
magnanimity.  If  then  the  Chris- 
tian subject  busy  himself  with  polit- 
ical questions,  and  endeavor  in  any 
way  to  secure  for  himself  a  liberty 
denied  by  his  Moslem  ruler,  he  lays 
himself  open  to  the  charge  of  be- 
ing a  rebel,  and  so  may  be  treated 
as  an  enemy  of  God  and  of  the 
faithful.  Accordingly  the  Sultan, 
with  the  advice  and  authority  of 
the  Moslem  hierarchy,  may  order 
the  slaughter  of  the  men,  giving 
them,  however,  the  alternative  of 
accepting  the  religion  of  Islam.  In 
case  the  Christian  select  death 
rather  than  apostasy,  his  wife  and 
children  may  be  enslaved  and  his 
property  seized  as  the  spoil  of  war. 
We  have,  therefore,  in  the  Ar- 
menian massacres  an  object-lesson 
in  the  Moslem's  religion.  Two 
hundred  millions  of  the  earth's  in- 

5 


ISLAM ;  OR, 

habitants  are  adherents  to  this 
faith,  which  is  to-day  the  only- 
rival  of  Christianity  for  supremacy 
in  the  world.  The  Sultan  of  Tur- 
key for  more  than  four  hundred 
years  has  been  recognized  as  the 
Defender  of  the  Faith,  the  Caliph 
or  vicegerent  of  God  on  earth. 
Forty  millions  of  his  own  subjects 
bow  the  knee  to  his  authority  both 
as  temporal  and  spiritual  ruler. 
Fifty  millions  in  India,  besides 
millions  more  in  Central  Asia  and 
North  Africa,  acknowledge  his 
authority  in  matters  of  religion. 
These  figures  suggest  some  of  the 
elements  of  complication  which  be- 
set every  effort  to  solve  the  East- 
ern Question.  The  religion  of 
Islam  is  still  a  mighty  force,  which 
must  be  taken  into  account  in  any 
study  of  the  political  situation  in 
the  East.  It  is  true  that  *'  the 
sick  man  "  at  Constantinople  some- 
times seems  ready  to  die,  but  his- 
tory tells  of  more  than  one  marvel- 
lous recovery.  The  jealousy  of 
the  Christian  powers  may  yet 
6 


THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  TURK. 

afford  him  another  opportunity 
to  rise  and  secure  a  new  lease  of 
life. 

It  goes  without  saying  that  the 
church  cannot  afford  to  be  indiffer- 
ent to  the  religion  of  the  millions 
of  Moslems  in  the  midst  of  whom 
our  devoted  missionaries  are  living 
and  laboring,  in  hope  that  by  and 
by  the  gospel  may  find  entrance 
to  their  hearts.  Is  it  not  the  part 
of  wisdom  as  well  as  the  instinct 
of  piety  to  endeavor  to  understand 
these  remarkable  people  and  to  ac- 
quaint ourselves  with  the  principles 
of  their  religion?  By  so  doing 
we  may  perhaps  better  understand 
their  place  in  the  history  of  God's 
providential  government  of  the 
world.  Possibly  we  may  learn 
something  more  of  the  way  by 
which  these  worshippers  of  Allah, 
**  the  merciful  and  the  beneficent," 
may  become  the  followers  of  **  the 
Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God  !" 
It  is  with  the  hope  of  aiding  in 
this  cause  that  the  writer  presents 
the  following  brief  popular  state- 

7 


ISLAM ;  OR, 

ment  of  the  faith  and  practice  of 
the  religion  of  Islam. 

In  the  mind  of  the  ordinary 
Christian  the  religion  of  Islam  is 
a  religion  of  yesterday.  Unlike 
Brahminism  or  Buddhism,  it  in- 
spires nothing  of  that  veneration 
which  is  born  of  the  glamor  of 
antiquity.  To  him  it  is  the  re- 
ligion of  Mohammed  the  impos- 
tor. He  sees  little  or  no  connec- 
tion between  it  and  his  own  faith 
or  the  faith  of  his  fathers.  To  him 
the  chief  characteristics  of  the 
Moslem's  creed  are  his  faith  in 
Allah  and  in  Mohammed,  the 
prophet  of  God,  and  his  belief 
in  his  right  to  practise  polygamy, 
adding  to  this  his  fanatical  zeal 
in  warfare  against  "  infidels." 

Not  so  with  the  Moslem  himself. 
To  him  Islam  is  the  only  true  re- 
ligion :  the  religion  vouchsafed  to 
Adam,  to  Seth  and  Enoch,  to  Noah 
and  Abraham,  to  Moses  and  the 
patriarchs,  to  David  and  all  the 
prophets,  to  Jesus  and  his  apostles, 
and  finally  to  Mohammed,  the  last 
8 


THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  TURK. 

of  the  prophets.  To  him  this  re- 
ligion comprehends  all  dispensa- 
tions. It  is  the  religion  of  the 
genii  and  of  angels.  It  shall  only 
find  its  consummation  in  eternity, 
amid  the  joys  of  paradise. 

Looking  at  it  from  another  stand- 
point, Islam  may  be  called  the  re- 
ligion of  Submission  to  God.  A 
Mussulman  is  one  who  has  submit- 
ted himself  to  God,  or,  as  Moham- 
medan doctors  define  it,  ''  one  who 
has  placed  his  neck  under  the  yoke 
of  God."  This  religion,  then,  like 
that  of  the  Jew  and  the  Christian, 
is  an  exclusive  religion.  It  admits 
none  other  as  true.  It  knows  no 
generous  rivalry.  There  is,  there- 
fore, no  foundation  in  fact  for  the 
theory  of  certain  Christian  writers 
that  Islam  and  Christianity  are 
destined,  under  a  more  liberal  in- 
terpretation of  their  respective 
symbols  of  faith,  to  go  hand  in 
hand  and  shoulder  to  shoulder  in 
a  crusade  against  idolatry.  That 
theory  is  an  idle  dream.  There 
can  be  no  such  reconcilement.  One 

9 


ISLAM :  OR, 

must  triumph  over  the  fall  of  the 
other.  So  far,  then,  as  the  mission- 
ary problem  is  concerned,  it  means 
war  to  the  end ;  war,  however,  with 
spiritual  weapons  against  carnal: 
the  sword  of  the  Spirit  against  the 
sword  of  Islam. 

In  order  to  understand  the  faith 
of  Islam  let  us  examine  its  fun- 
damental principles. 

Moslem  authors  tell  us  of  four 
Irkan  or  Pillars  of  the  faith  :  the 
Quran,  the  Ahadis  or  traditions, 
the  Ijma,  or  unanimous  consent 
of  the  learned,  and  Qiyas,  or  analo- 
gical reasoning  based  upon  the 
Quran,  Ahadis,  and  Ijma.  Let  us 
examine  these  separately. 

I.  The  Quran. 

This  is  called  by  the  Moslem 
a  I  Quran  al  Majid,  ''the  glorious 
Quran  ;"  a  I  Quran  ash-sJiarif,  "  the 
noble  Quran  ;"  al  Furqan,  or  *'  the 
Distinguisher ;"  and  the  Kalam- 
Ullah,  or  ''  theWord  of  God."  The 
original,  they  say,  is  inscribed  upon 
the  Luh-i-Mahfuz,  or  "  Preserved 
Table,"  which  is  kept  under  the 

lO 


THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  TURK. 

throne  of  God.*  From  this  it  was 
copied  and  sent  down  by  the  angel 
Gabriel.  It  follows  that  Moham- 
med, in  the  apprehension  of  his 
followers,  was  merely  the  mouth- 
piece of  God  in  all  he  said. 

The  story  of  Mohammed's  call 
to  "  recite  "  the  Quran  is  one  which 
is  listened  to  with  awe  by  millions 
of*  his  followers.  For  some  weeks 
Mohammed  had  been  living  as  a 
recluse  in  a  cave  near  the  City  of 
Makkah.  One  day  he  came  to  his 
wife  Khadijah  in  great  trepidation 
and  fear,  saying,  *'  Wrap  me  up, 
wrap  me  up  !"  She  wrapped  him 
up  until  his  fear  was  dispelled, 
when  he  told  her  the  cause  of  his 
fear  and  trembling.  He  said  that 
the  angel  Gabriel  had  come  to  him 
and  said,  '*  Read."  He  replied,  '*  I 
am  not  a  reader."  "Then,"  said 
Mohammed,  "  the  angel  took  hold 
of  me  and  squeezed  me  as  much  as 

*  This  notion  of  the  Moslems  may  have  arisen 
from  the  practice  of  the  Jews  of  keeping  the 
Sacred  Book  by  the  side  of  the  ark  in  the  Holy 
of  Holies.     Deut.  31:26;  cf.  2  Kings  22:8. 

II 


ISLAM ;  OR, 

I  could  bear,  and  lie  let  me  go  and 
said,  *  Read.'  And  I  said,  '  I  am 
not  a  reader.'  Then  he  took  hold 
of  me  a  third  time  and  squeezed 
me  as  much  as  I  could  bear,  and 
said, 

"  *  Read !  in  the  name  of  thy 
Lord  who  created  man. 

"  *  Read  !  for  thy  Lord  is  most 
beneficent ; 

''  *  He  hath  taught  men  the  use 
of  the  pen  ; 

''  *  He  hath  taught  man  that 
which  he  knoweth  not.'  " 

Hearing  this  story  the  faithful 
Khadijah  addressed  herself  to  the 
work  of  comforting  her  husband. 
To  his  fears  lest  he  should  die,  or 
lest  he  were  the  subject  of  some 
demoniacal  possession,  she  said, 
'*  No,  it  will  not  be  so.  I  swear  by 
God  he  will  never  make  you  mel- 
ancholy or  sad.  For  verily  you 
are  kind  to  your  relatives,  you 
speak  the  truth,  you  are  faithful  in 
trust,  you  bear  the  afflictions  of  the 
people,  you  spend  in  good  works 
what  you  gain  in  trade,  you  are 

12 


THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  TURK. 

hospitable,  and  you  assist  your  fel- 
low-men." She  then  took  him  to 
her  cousin  Waraqah,  who  was  re- 
puted a  holy  man  and  acquainted 
with  the  Jewish  Scriptures.  Said 
Waraqah,  '*  Oh,  son  of  my  brother, 
what  do  you  see  ?"  Then  the  proph- 
et told  him  what  he  saw,  and  Wa- 
raqah said,  ''  That  is  the  Namus 
which  God  sent  to  Moses ;"  there- 
by expressing  the  idea  that  he 
was  the  subject  of  divine  inspira- 
tion. 

Such  was  the  beginning  of  Mo- 
hammed's prophetic  career.  From 
this  time  forth  during  the  space  of 
a  score  of  years  the  prophetic  dec- 
larations of  this  remarkable  man 
were  recorded  and  carefully  treas- 
ured up  as  the  very  words  of  God. 
They  were  given  piecemeal,  ever 
colored  by  the  experiences  of  the 
prophet  and  the  environments  of 
the  faithful.  They  were  usually 
announced  when  some  exigency  of 
the  new  faith  or  of  the  personal 
interest  of  the  prophet  required. 
At  Makkah  the  spirit  of  this  proph- 

1.3 


ISLAM;  OR, 

ecy  anathematized  the  idols  in  the 
national  pantheon,  vindicating  the 
unity  of  the  Godhead  by  reference 
to  the  testimony  of  nature  and  the 
consciences  of  men.  The  tribe  of 
theQuraish,  which  was  the  princi- 
pal tribe  of  Makkah  and  the  custo- 
dian of  the  sacred  Kaabah,  or  tem- 
ple, naturally  resented  this  preach- 
ing. They  ridiculed  the  prophet 
as  a  madman.  They  persecuted 
his  followers,  Mohammed  himself 
being  protected  by  powerful  rela- 
tions. The  Quran  carefully  notes 
these  facts,  rebukes  and  threatens 
the  persecutors.  It  tells  them  of 
the  experiences  of  former  proph- 
ets— how  the  unbelievers  mocked 
and  persecuted,  how  a  merciful 
God  warned  them,  how  he  even 
wrought  miracles  before  them,  and 
yet  how  the  hardened  wretches 
rushed  blindly  on  to  destruction. 
Some  were  swallowed  up  by  an 
earthquake,  others  were  drowned 
in  the  flood.  Once  a  hot  wind  sud- 
denly breathed  upon  a  slumbering 
city,  leaving  its  inhabitants  corpses. 
14 


THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  TURK. 

Again,  a  plague  dealt  out  merited 
destruction  upon  the  enemies  of 
the  Lord  and  his  prophets.  Again, 
when  the  Jews  opposed  they  were 
warned  by  the  fate  of  unbelievers 
among  them  in  the  olden  time. 

At  Madina  the  circumstances  of 
the  prophet  were  entirely  changed 
and  the  character  of  the  revela- 
tions of  the  Quran  also  changed. 
At  first  the  prophecy  was  concilia- 
tory. The  Jews  were  flattered. 
The  Moslems  were  commanded  to 
pray  toward  Jerusalem.  Much  was 
said  in  praise  of  the  Old  Testament 
saints.  Thus  did  Mohammed  hope 
to  win  the  children  of  Israel.  But 
the  Jews  were  not  inclined  to  rec- 
ognize this  new  apostle.  They 
ridiculed  his  prophetic  pretensions 
and  rejected  him  as  an  impostor. 
The  spirit  of  Quranic  prophecy 
now  anathematized  the  Jews,  and 
declared  them  to  be  accursed  of 
God  because  they  had  persecuted 
and  slain  his  prophet.  The  tem- 
ple at  Jerusalem  was  rejected  as 
the  Qibla,  and  Makkah  was  chosen 

15 


ISLAM ;  OR, 

as  the  point  towards  which  the 
faithful  should  pray.  Christians 
were  now  spoken  of  kindly.  They 
were  said  to  be  charitable.  Jesus 
was  declared  to  be  a  prophet  of 
God.  His  purity  of  character  and 
wonderful  miracles  were  extolled. 
By  this  time  the  new  faith  had 
gained  many  adherents  —  Arabs, 
Jews  and  Christians.  A  new  ad- 
versary now  arose ;  it  was  Abdul- 
lah Ibn  Ubbai,  the  chief  of  one 
of  the  most  powerful  factions  in 
Madina,  who  was  jealous  of  the 
influence  of  the  prophet  with  his 
ever-increasing  band  of  Moslems. 
Henceforth  Abdullah  and  his  party 
received  the  special  attention  of 
the  inspiring  genius  of  Moham- 
med. The  necessities  of  inspira- 
tion increased,  and  now  the  voice 
of  Gabriel  was  ever  heard  ringing 
in  the  ear  of  the  prophet.  Some- 
times (as  he  said)  it  was  like  the 
sound  of  a  bell,  sometimes  like  the 
roar  of  a  tornado ;  at  other  times 
the  angel  in  the  form  of  one  of 
Mohammed's  attendants  (Dahiyah) 
16 


THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  TURK. 

addressed  him  in  audible  voice. 
Now  a  command  was  given  to 
make  war  upon  the  Makkah  cara- 
vans. Then  an  order  came  relat- 
ing to  the  Moslems— perhaps  to 
reofulate  their  social  intercourse, 
their  treatment  of  their  wives, 
their  neighbors,  or  their  prophet. 
At  another  time  prayer  and  fast- 
ing were  instituted.  Again,  some 
ancient  Arab  custom  was  abol- 
ished. For  example,  the  prophet 
fell  in  love  with  the  beautiful  Zai- 
nab,  the  wife  of  Zaid,  his  adopt- 
ed son.  Zaid,  moved  by  devotion 
to  his  benefactor,  was  willing  to 
divorce  her ;  yea,  in  the  face  of 
Mohammed's  protest,  he  did  di- 
vorce her,  that  she  might  become 
the  wife  of  the  prophet.  But,  how- 
ever willing  the  prophet  and  his 
devoted  children,  the  custom  of 
the  Arab  nation  was  against  them. 
It  was  a  scandalous  thing  for  a 
man  to  marry  the  divorced  wife  of 
an  adopted  son.  Here,  then,  the 
spirit  of  Mohammed's  prophecy 
came  to  the  rescue.     A  revelation 

2  .  17 


ISLAM :  OR, 

was  vouchsafed  to  the  prophet 
commanding  him  to  marry  Zainab. 
This  was  done,  said  the  prophecy, 
"  in  order  that  henceforth  the  faith- 
ful may  not  be  bound  by  the  old 
custom  forbidding  men  to  marry 
the  divorced  wives  of  their  adopt- 
ed sons."* 

On  another  occasion  a  scandal 
arose  in  respect  to  waging  war  dur- 
ing the  Sacred  Months.  From  time 
immemorial  Arab  custom  had 
made  warfare  unlawful  during 
these  months.  The  sword  was 
sheathed.  The  bow  and  the  shield 
were  hung  up  within  the  tent 
doors.  Enemies  met  without  fear 
of  danger  to  either  life  or  property. 
Even  the  murderer  of  a  father  or 
a  brother  was  safe  in  the  compan- 
ionship of  the  avenger  of  blood. 
It  so  happened  that  a  small  band 
of  Moslem  marauders  found  a  Mak- 
kan  caravan  quietly  encamped  by 
a  well  at  the  beginning  of  the  sa- 
cred season.  Being  off  their  guard 
they  fell  an  easy  prey  to  the  Mos- 

*  See  Quran,  chap   xxxiii.,  37. 

18 


THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  TURK. 

lems,  who  carried  off  the  whole  of 
their  goods  as  the  spoil  of  war. 
The  Arab  unbelievers  and  hypo- 
crites of  Madina  made  a  great  out- 
cry at  this  outrage.  The  Moslems 
themselves  were  scandalized.  Mo-, 
hammed  was  blamed,  inasmuch  as 
the  expedition  has  been  undertaken 
by  his  order.  The  influence  of  the 
prophet  was  jeopardized.  Seizing 
the  marauders  he  placed  them  in 
ward.  The  spoil  was  placed  in 
bond  until  such  time  as  the  will  of 
God  might  be  made  known.  The 
delay  was  not  long.  Gabriel  ap- 
peared to  the  prophet,  declaring 
that  infidelity  was  worse  than  war- 
fare in  the  Sacred  Months  and  that 
henceforth  the  unbelievers  would 
not  be  spared  even  during  this 
season.  Accordingly  the  prisoners 
were  released  and  rewarded,  while 
the  booty  was  distributed  among 
the  faithful. 

Again,  an  expedition  was  to  be 
undertaken  against  the  Jews  :  the 
order  was  given  through  the  medi- 
um   of    the    Quran.     Some    rude 

19 


ISLAM;  OR, 

Arabs  showed  undue  familiarity 
in  their  approach  to  Mohammed : 
a  revelation  was  vouchsafed  regu- 
lating the  manner  of  approach  to 
the  prophet  of  God.  The  charac- 
ter of  Ayesha,  the  favorite  wife  of 
Mohammed,  was  aspersed  and  the 
prophet  scandalized  :  the  word  of 
the  Quran  exonerated  the  favorite 
wife  and  prescribed  punishment 
for  the  calumniators.  Such  is  the 
character  of  the  revelations  of  this 
book.  So  intimate  is  the  relation 
between  the  matter  of  the  revela- 
tions of  the  Quran  and  the  life  and 
experience  of  Mohammed  that  a 
knowledge  of  the  latter  is  necessary 
to  any  intelligent  understanding  of 
the  former. 

At  the  death  of  Mohammed  the 
various  portions  of  the  Quran  were 
found  in  a  box  which  had  been 
committed  to  the  care  of  one  of  his 
wives.  They  were  written  upon 
palm  leaves  and  white  stones. 
Many  of  the  Moslems  too  possessed 
copies  of  portions  and  some  of  them 
had  committed  the  whole  to  mem- 
20 


THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  TURK. 

ory.  The  fatalities  of  war,  how- 
ever, led  to  the  rapid  thinning  out 
of  the  ranks  of  the  hafizcs,  as  those 
were  called  who  had  committed  the 
Quran  to  memory.  Under  these 
circumstances  Zaid-Ibn-Sabit  was 
appointed  by  the  Caliph  (Khalifah) 
Abu  Baqr  to  compile  the  Quran. 
This  work  he  did,  collecting  all  the 
portions  he  could  find  from  the 
palm  leaf  and  stone  copies  and 
from  those  who  repeated  what  they 
knew  as  he  recorded  it  for  preser- 
vation. The  result  was  the  volume 
which  we  now  possess.  True,  this 
copy  underwent  some  revision  in 
the  Caliphate  of  Othman,  but 
only  so  as  to  make  the  idiom 
everywhere  to  correspond  to  that 
of  the  Quraishite  tribe  of  Mak- 
kah. 

This  book  contains  1 14  suras  or 
chapters.  Those  are  not,  however, 
recorded  in  their  chronological  or- 
der, but,  somewhat  after  the  man- 
ner of  the  prophetical  books  of  the 
Jewish  Scriptures,  the  longer  chap- 
ters were  placed  first  and  the  short- 

21 


ISLAM :  OR, 

er  last — the  whole  being  introduced 
by  a  prayer. 

This  prayer  reads  as  follows  : 
''  In  the  name  of  God  most  mer- 
ciful. Praise  be  to  God,  the  Lord 
of  all  creatures,  the  most  merciful, 
the  king"  of  the  day  of  judgment. 
Thee  do  we  worship,  and  of  thee 
do  we  beg  assistance.  Direct  us  in 
the  right  way,  in  the  way  of  those 
to  whom  thou  hast  been  gracious ; 
not  of  those  against  whom  thou  art 
incensed,  nor  of  those  who  go 
astray." 

This  passage  is  perhaps  the  most 
striking,  if  not  the  most  beautiful 
passage  in  the  Quran.  It  reveals 
to  us  at  least  two  important  rea- 
sons why  the  Quran  holds  such  an 
influence  over  the  minds  of  two 
hundred  millions  of  the  human 
race.  The  first  reason  is  the  beau- 
tiful rhythm,  and  often  sweet  ca- 
dences of  the  original  language. 
They  sound  like  the  notes  of  some 
enchanting  song,  holding  multi- 
tudes with  rapt  attention  who  un- 
derstand scarcely  a  word  they  hear. 

22 


THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  TURK. 

The  second  reason  is  the  vast 
amount  of  truth  contained  in  the 
book ;  especially  the  truth  of  the 
divine  unity  and  of  man's  depend- 
ence on  God  for  salvation. 

There  are  three  points  in  the 
faith  of  Moslems  concerning  the 
Quran  which  we  should  not  fail  to 
notice  here. 

The  first  is  the  doctrine  of  the 
eternity  of  the  Quran.  According 
to  this  doctrine,  the  Quran  is  un- 
created. The  paper,  ink,  etc.,  of 
which  the  volume  is  formed  are 
acknowledged  to  be  creatures, 
even  the  forms  of  the  letters  are 
made,  but  the  Word  of  God  con- 
tained in  this  volume  and  repre- 
sented by  these  forms  is  by  all  or- 
thodox Moslems  regarded  as  eter- 
nally existent  in  the  mind  of  God  ; 
eternal  as  to  its  original  essence. 
It  is  not  God,  yet  it  is  inseparable 
from  God. 

The  second  point  of  faith  in 
regard  to  the  Quran  relates  to  the 
authority  of  the  Quran.  In  the  light 
of  the  doctrine  just  mentioned  we 

23 


ISLAM ;  OR, 

will  be  prepared  to  understand  the 
value  placed  upon  every  jot  and 
tittle  of  this  book.  It  may  only  be 
read  by  ''the  pure."  The  text 
must  be  preserved  unchanged.  The 
words  and  letters  are  all  counted. 
Holy  men  commit  it  to  memory. 
Every  question  of  doctrine  is  tested 
by  its  teaching.  A  single  text  is 
sufficient  to  establish  any  article  of 
faith. 

The  third  doctrine  concerning 
the  Quran  which  we  would  notice 
here  is  called  the  doctrine  of  Abro- 
gation. It  sprang  up  during  the 
lifetime  of  Mohammed.  It  grew 
out  of  the  necessities  of  his  pro- 
phetic pretensions.  Circumstances 
changed  from  time  to  time  and 
changes  in  the  revelation  became 
necessary.  Wherefore  each  new 
revelation  was  declared  to  abrogate 
the  old  whenever  it  was  contrary 
to  it. 

This  doctrine  of  abrogation  has 
been  worked  up  into  a  science. 
By  modern  Moslems  it  is  made  to 
apply  to  the  former  Scriptures,  so 

24 


THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  TURK. 

that  they  do  not  hesitate  to  say 
that  the  Jewish  Scriptures  were 
abrogated  by  the  Christian  Scrip- 
tures, and  these  in  turn  by  the 
Quran. 

With  this  volume  in  hand  the 
proud  Moslem  wants  no  other.  It 
contains  for  him  not  only  the  truth, 
but,  including  the  traditions,  it 
contains  all  truth,  so  far  as  religion 
is  concerned. 

The  story  is  told  of  the  Caliph 
Omar  that,  when  asked  what  should 
be  done  with  the  celebrated  Alex- 
andrian Library,  he  replied :  *'  If 
the  books  therein  agree  with  the 
Quran  they  are  not  needed  :  if  they 
are  contrary  to  it  they  should  be 
destroyed."  This  story  illustrates 
the  ordinary  estimate  of  the  Mos- 
lem for  the  Christian  Scriptures. 
Wherein  they  differ  from  the  Qu- 
ran it  is  said  to  be  due  to  corrup- 
tion by  interpolation  or  forgery,  so 
that  they  are  only  to  be  recognized 
in  so  far  as  they  agree  with  the 
Quran.  The  consequence  is  that 
while  the  Quran  attests  the  genu- 

25 


ISLAM :  OR, 

ineness  and  credibility  of  the  Bi- 
ble yet  Moslems  hold  that  present 
copies  are  not  trustworthy,  and 
hence,  because  they  contradict  the 
Quran,  they  are  to  be  rejected. 

II.  The  next  pillar  of  Islam  is 
closely  related  to  the  Quran  and 
yet  differs  materially  from  it.  This 
pillar  is  called  Ahadis,  or  Tradi- 
tions. These  are  also  called  the 
Sunnat.  They  consist  of  the  say- 
ings, doings,  and  permissions  of 
Mohammed  in  regard  to  various 
matters.  They  were  collected  two 
or  three  centuries  after  the  death 
of  the  prophet.  They  represent 
(i)  things  said  by  Mohammed  ;  (2) 
things  done  by  Moham.med  in  the 
presence  of  his  disciples,  and  (3) 
things  done  by  disciples  in  the 
prophet's  presence  against  which 
he  did  not  show  any  disapproba- 
tion ;  (4)  things  done  in  the  pres- 
ence of  Mohammed  which  he  con- 
demned. The  mass  of  matter  has 
been  compiled  in  six  ponderous 
tomes  known  as  the  *'  as-Sihah-us- 
Sittah  (the  Six  Correct  Books). 
26 


THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  TURK. 

The  principles  which  were  ap- 
plied, to  decide  between  the  gen- 
uine and  spurious  traditions,  were 
peculiar.  Collectors  carefully  ex- 
amined the  chain,  not  of  evidence 
for  and  against  the  traditions,  but 
of  the  persons  relating  them.  If 
each  link  in  the  chain  of  witness- 
es were  a  pious  Moslem  of  sound 
mind,  discreet,  sober  and  clear- 
headed, his  testimony  was  accept- 
ed. If  all  the  witnesses  were  thus 
reliable  the  tradition  was  accepted. 
Whenever  there  was  a  doubt  as 
to  one  or  more  of  the  witnesses 
the  tradition,  though  accepted,  was 
marked  as  "  weak  "  or  "  doubtful." 
It  will  be  evident  to  all  that  under 
such  circumstances  the  science  of 
interpreting  the  traditions  is  no 
small  part  of  a  Moslem's  education 
for  the  priesthood. 

The  following  extract,  from  a 
famous  collection  of  Moslem  tradi- 
tions entitled  "The  Tirmizi,"  will 
give  the  reader  an  idea  of  the  form 
and  character  of  these  traditions : 

"  Abu    Kuraib   said   to   us   that 

27 


ISLAM  ;  OR, 

Ibrahim  ibn  Yusuf  ibn  Abi  Ishaq 
said  to  us,  from  his  father,  from 
Abu  Ishaq,  from  Tulata  ibn  Musa- 
rif  that  he  said,  I  have  heard,  from 
'Abdu'r-Rahman  ibn  Ausajah,  that 
he  said  I  have  heard  that  the 
prophet  said,  Whosoever  shall  give 
in  charity  a  milch  cow,  or  silver,  or  a 
leathern  bottle  of  water,  it  shall  be 
equal  to  the  freeing  of  a  slave'' 
It  will  be  noted  that  a  complete 
chain  of  witnesses  is  here  present- 
ed between  the  prophet  and  the 
final  narrator  of  the  tradition. 

As  the  Quran  is  the  chief  source 
of  authority  in  doctrine,  so  the 
traditions  are  the  principal  source 
of  knowledge  in  respect  to  all  ques- 
tions of  practice.  Not  only  is  this 
true  of  the  ceremonies  and  cus- 
toms relating  to  the  daily  and 
other  stated  prayers,  to  the  fast 
of  the  Ramzan  or  the  observ- 
ances of  the  Muharram,  to  alms- 
giving and  pilgrimage,  but  to  the 
customs  relating  to  marriage  and 
death,  to  the  usages  of  social  and 
family  intercourse  and  even  to  all 
28 


THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  TURK. 

matters  of  dress  and  adornments, 
down  to  the  cut  of  the  beard,  the 
dye  for  the  hair,  and  the  particu- 
lar wood  to  be  used  in  making  a 
toothbrush  !  All  questions  as  to 
purification  and  washing  are  set- 
tled by  reference  to  the  traditions. 
Suppose,  for  instance,  a  dog  should 
be  drowned  in  a  well,  the  question 
would  immediately  arise  as  to  how 
that  well  could  be  rendered  cer- 
emonially clean.  Learned  men 
would  be  consulted,  who  would  in 
turn  consult  the  books  and  pro- 
ceed to  enlighten  the  minds  of 
their  co-religionists  how  many 
gallons  of  water  must  be  drawm 
from  the  well  before  it  can  be  re- 
garded as  having  been  purified. 
Never  did  Jewish  scribes  display 
more  learning  in  adducing  the 
sayings  of  the  rabbis  and  doctors 
to  prove  some  question  as  to  wash- 
ing of  hands  and  cleaning  of  pots 
than  do  the  Mullahs  and  learned 
men  of  Islam  when  discussing 
similar  questions  to-day. 
III.  The  third  pillar  of  Moslem 

29 


ISLAM :  OR, 

faith  is  called  Ijma.  This  term 
expresses  to  the  Moslem  about  the 
idea  conveyed  to  a  Christian  by 
the  expression  ''  consensus  of  the 
fathers."  It  is  a  collection  of  the 
opinions  of  the  Mujtahiddin  or 
learned  among  the  companions  of 
the  prophet,  the  Ansars,  or  help- 
ers, who  were  converted  at  Madi- 
na  during  Mohammed's  ministry 
there,  and  the  disciples  and  com- 
panions of  both  of  these  classes. 
Naturally  it  was  thought  that  such 
men  w^ere  in  a  position  best  to  un- 
derstand what  was  meant  by  the 
words  of  the  Quran,  and  especially 
by  the  sayings  of  their  prophet 
preserved  in  the  traditions.  These 
opinions  of  the  learned,  however, 
must  on  no  account  contradict  the 
teaching  of  the  Quran  or  the  tradi- 
tions, but  when  they  agree  with 
these  they  are  regarded  as  author- 
ity in  all  questions  of  interpreta- 
tion and  law. 

IV.  The  fourth  pillar  of  Moslem 
faith  is  called  Qiyas,  By  this  term 
is  meant  the  analogical  reasoning 

30 


THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  TURK. 

of  the  learned  as  to  the  teaching  of 
the  Quran,  traditions  and  the  Ijma. 
Here  we  find  for  the  first  time  a 
place  for  the  exercise  of  the  rea- 
son. And  yet  even  here  how  lit- 
tle is  that  exercise.  The  learned 
Imaums  and  Mujtahiddin  of  the 
first  three  centuries  of  Islam  made 
certain  deliverances,  based  upon 
the  teachings  of  the  Quran  and 
traditions,  which  have  been  re- 
corded for  the  guidance  of  the 
faithful.  Since  that  time  the 
"learned"  among  the  orthodox 
have  no  successors,  so  that  for 
centuries  Moslem  scholars  have  not 
striven  to  learn  what  the  Quran 
and  the  Ahadis  really  teach,  but  to 
discover  what  the  *'  learned  "  say 
they  teach.  Reason  has  virtually 
been  ruled  out  of  court.  Dogma- 
tism in  the  worst  sense  of  that 
term  has  obtained  almost  absolute 
supremacy  over  Moslem  minds. 
A  hierarchy  of  the  Uluma  or  learn- 
ed doctors  holds  sway  with  a  power 
rarely  ever  held  by  Pope  or  college 
of  cardinals  in  the  Romish  Church. 

31 


ISLAM :  OR, 

Clothed  with  all  the  authority  of 
the  temporal  power  this  hierarchy 
is  able  to  mete  out  the  severest 
penalties  upon  any  and  all  who 
wshould  dare  to  call  in  question 
their  conclusions  in  regard  to  any 
matter  of  doctrine  or  practice. 
When  the  bastinado  and  the  filthy 
dungeon  fail  to  correct  the  contu- 
macious, the  bowstring  and  the 
axe  avail.  This  survey  of  the  fun- 
damental doctrines  of  Islam  will 
make  clear  to  the  reader  its  ex- 
treme rigidity.  Everything  is,  as 
it  were,  fossilized.  There  is  no 
room  for  development.  The  Mos- 
lem priest  ever  points  to  the  past. 
Freedom  of  thought  is  denied  him. 
No  commentator  may  tell  what  he 
thinks  the  sacred  writings  teach, 
but,  like  the  Pharisees  of  old,  he 
declares  in  solemn  tones  what  some 
old  doctor  taught  one  thousand 
years  ago. 

There  are  some  ardent  admirers 
of   Turkish    and  Indian  Moslems 
who  entertain  the  hope  that  con- 
tact with  the  West  and   acquaint- 
32 


THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  TURK. 

ance  with  its  civilization  will  lead 
to  a  reformation  of  their  religion. 
They  seem  to  be  looking  for  a 
kind  of  Moslem  millennium,  when 
the  dignity  of  womanhood  will  be 
acknowledged,  when  polygamy  will 
be  abolished,  when  the  slaves  will 
be  set  free  and  the  accursed  traffic 
in  human  flesh  be  ended,  when 
reason  and  conscience  shall  be  un- 
trammeled  and  when  Moslem  and 
Christian  shall  kneel  in  loving  em- 
brace at  the  Mercy  Seat.  Such 
dreamers  understand  little  of  the 
religion  of  the  Moslem.  The  truth 
is,  the  evils  so  notorious  in  Moslem 
countries,  and  which  have  just 
been  mentioned,  are  sanctioned  by 
Islam.  Slavery  and  polygamy, 
with  their  contempt  for  the  wail 
of  the  slave  and  the  degradation 
of  woman,  will  continue  so  long 
as  the  Quran  has  authority  over 
the  minds  of  men  No  less  shall 
the  enslavement  of  reason  and 
conscience  continue,  in  countries 
governed  by  Moslem  sovereigns, 
so  long  as  the  authority  of  the 
3  33 


ISLAM :  OR, 

Uluma  receives  the  sanction  of 
Moslem  tradition  and  the  universal 
consent  of  the  Mohammedan  fa- 
thers. **  Africa's  sore  "  will  only 
be  healed  when  the  power  of  Mos- 
lem slave  hunters  shall  be  broken 
and  when  the  Turk  and  Arab  shall 
no  longer  be  permitted  to  fill  their 
harems  with  the  product  of  the 
slave  trade.  We  may  not  gather 
"  grapes  of  thorns  nor  figs  of 
thistles." 

We  are  now  prepared  to  enter 
upon  a  brief  survey  of  that  system 
of  religious  faith  and  practice 
which  is  based  upon  this  foun- 
dation. According  to  Moslem  au- 
thorities the  faith  of  Islam  includes 
seven  points,  enumerated  in  the 
following  creed : 

"  I  believe  in  God,  in  the  An- 
gels, in  the  Books,  in  the  Apos- 
tles, in  the  Last  Day,  in  the  De- 
crees of  Almighty  God  both  as 
respects  good  and  evil,  and  in  the 
Resurrection  after  death." 

Faith  in  God  includes  not  only 
belief  in  his  existence  as  a  person- 

34 


THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  TURK. 

al  God,  but  especially  in  his  abso- 
lute Unity.  It  excludes  not  only 
plurality  of  deities,  but  plurality 
of  persons  in  the  One  God.  It  re- 
pudiates every  idea  of  incarnation. 
It  is  therefore  totally  opposed  to 
the  Christian  doctrine  of  Trinity 
in  Unity  and  of  the  Incarnation  of 
God  in  Christ. 

The  seven  attributes  of  God  are 
"  Life,  Wisdom,  Power,  Will,  Hear- 
ing, Seeing,  and  Speaking."  To 
the  Moslem,  God  is  not  first  of  all 
a  God  of  Wisdom,  or  Love,  but  a 
God  of  Infinite  Power.  **  He  is," 
to  quote  another,"^  '*  the  Lord  of  the 
worlds,  the  Author  of  the  heavens 
and  the  earth,  who  hath  created 
life  and  death,  in  whose  hands  is 
dominion,  who  maketh  the  dawn 
to  appear  and  causeth  the  night  to 
cover  the  day,  the  Great  all- Power- 
ful Lord  of  the  Glorious  Throne ; 
the  thunder  proclaimeth  his  per- 
fection, the  whole  earth  is  his 
handful,  and  the  heavens  shall  be 

*  Mr.  Stanley  Lane  Pool,  in  Selections  from 
Quran. 

35 


ISLAM ;  OR, 

folded  together  in  his  right  hand. 
And  with  the  power  he  conceives 
the  knowledge  that  directs  it  to 
right  ends.  God  is  the  wise,  the 
just,  the  true,  the  swift  in  reckon- 
ing, who  knoweth  every  ant 's 
weight  of  good  and  of  ill  that 
each  man  hath  done,  and  who  suf- 
fereth  not  the  reward  of  the  faith- 
ful to  perish." 

So  overwhelming  indeed  is  the 
sense  of  the  power  of  the  Almighty 
that  there  seems  to  be  no  room  left 
for  the  will  of  the  creature,  and  so 
it  comes  to  pass  that  in  the  minds 
of  the  majority  of  Moslems  "  God 
plays  with  humanity  as  on  a  chess- 
board, and  works  out  his  game 
without  regard  to  the  sacrifice  of 
the  pieces." 

Still,  on  the  other  hand,  there  is 
a  recognition  of  the  mercy  of  God, 
thougfh  indeed  it  must  be  conced- 
ed  that  this  is  not  the  chief  thought 
of  Islam.  The  Moslem  is  guided 
by  fear,  rather  than  drawn  by  love. 
The  God  of  Islam  is  undoubtedly 
the  true  God,  and  yet  there  are 
-.6 


THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  TURK. 

serious  objections  to  the  Moslem's 
conception  of  him.  Not  only  do 
we  object  to  his  rejection  of  the 
Trinity,  but  also  to  his  having  ex- 
alted God's  Omnipotence  over  all 
other  attributes,  to  the  lowering  of 
his  character  for  holiness — noth- 
ing being  said  of  God's  holiness  in 
the  Quran  which  might  not  be  said 
of  a  holy  man  ;  to  his  limiting  the 
goodness  of  God  to  Moslems,  no 
matter  what  their  character,  rel- 
egating even  the  infants  of  unbe- 
lievers to  hell  fire ;  to  his  sacrifice 
of  God's  justice  by  denying  the 
necessity  for  any  atonement  for 
sin  ;  and,  finally,  to  his  limitation 
of  the  truth  of  God  by  the  sanctifi- 
cation  of  a  lie,  if  it  only  be  spoken 
in  self-defense  or  for  the  advance- 
ment of  Islam.  It  must  not  be 
forgotten  that  the  God  of  Islam  is 
not  merely  the  Allah  described  in 
the  Quran,  but  the  God  who  speaks 
in  every  word,  syllable,  and  letter 
of  the  Quran.  We  must  not  there- 
fore separate  what  we  conceive 
to  have  special  reference  to   God 

37 


ISLAM ;  OR, 

in  its  teaching"  from  what  we  may 
conceive  to  have  been  used  by 
Mohammed  for  the  furtherance  of 
his  private  or  political  purposes; 
for,  according  to  Islam,  Moham- 
med was  but  the  mouthpiece  of 
Divinity.  If,  then,  we  would  get  a 
correct  idea  of  the  Allah  of  Islam 
we  must  take  into  account  all  that 
was  done  by  Mohammed  under  the 
sanction  of  the  Quran.  Let  this  be 
done,  and  it  will  appear  that  what 
we  have  just  said  is  by  no  means 
extravagant,  or  unduly  severe. 

On  the  subject  of  the  Books  rec- 
ognized by  Moslems,  we  note  as 
of  special  interest  their  faith  in 
104  volumes  of  inspiration,  re- 
vealed from  time  to  time  through 
the  medium  of  the  prophets,  clos- 
ing with  the  Quran.  Of  these  it  is 
said  100  are  no  longer  in  existence  : 
these  are  the  books  of  Adam, 
Seth,  Enoch  and  Abraham.  The 
four  still  extant  are  the  Penta- 
teuch of  Moses,  the  Psalms  of 
David,  the  Gospel  of  Jesus,  and 
the  Quran  of  Mohammed.  These 
38 


THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  TURK. 

are  all  recognized  by  the  Quran  as 
the  word  of  God  given  for  a  light 
to  guide  men  in  the  way  of  salva- 
tion. Nevertheless,  as  already 
stated,  modern  Moslems  regard 
all  these,  excepting  the  Quran,  as 
having  been  corrupted.  When 
therefore  a  Moslem  says  he  be- 
lieves in  the  books  contained  in  the 
Jewish  and  Christian  Scriptures, 
he  means  only  to  declare  that  such 
books  were  once  delivered  to  the 
prophets,  though  now  so  corrupted 
as  no  longer  to  be  worthy  of  cre- 
dence excepting  in  so  far  as  they 
are  confirmed  by  the  Quran. 

In  regard  to  the  prophets,  Mos- 
lems believe  in  144,000.  There 
are  however  no  more  than  28  whose 
names  are  given  in  the  Quran. 
They  also  declare  their  belief  in 
315  apostles  or  prophets  sent  with 
some  special  message.  Nine  were 
exalted  to  the  position  of  leaders 
in  the  ushering  in  of  new  dispen- 
sations ;  six  of  these  were  styled 
the  Nabi  -  ul  -  Azim.  These  are 
Adam,    Noah,    Abraham,    Moses, 

39 


ISLAM ;  OR, 

Jesus  and  Mohammed.  Each  of 
these  is  distinguished  by  a  special 
title  ;  thus,  Adam  is  the  Chosen  of 
God,  Noah  the  Prophet  of  God, 
Abraham  the  Friend  of  God,  Mo- 
ses the  Speaker  with  God,  Jesus 
the  Spirit  of  God,  and  Mohammed 
the  Apostle  of  God.  A  striking 
fact  in  this  connection  is  that,  while 
according  to  popular  belief  all 
prophets  were  sinless,  yet,  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  teaching  of  the 
Quran  and  the  Traditions,  Jesus 
is  the  only  sinless  prophet  of  Islam. 
Of  other  prophets  it  is  said  in  the 
Quran  either  that  they  confessed 
and  repented  of  their  sins  or  that 
God  laid  certain  sins  to  their 
charge.  The  same  thing  is  true 
of  the  teaching  of  the  Traditions — 
especially  true  in  the  case  of  Mo- 
hammed, who  is  commanded  to 
repent  of  his  sins  and  who  is  said 
to  have  professed  his  penitence 
seventy  times  in  a  single  day.  But 
of  Jesus,  nowhere  is  there  a  line 
or  a  hint  of  any  kind  that  He  was 
ever  chargeable  with  sin.  He  Is 
40 


THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  TURK. 

the  only    sinless    prophet   of 
Islam. 

There  is  however  no  doctrine 
that  impresses  itself  more  power- 
fully upon  the  mind  of  Moslems 
than  that  of  the  Resurrection  and 
the  Judgment  Day.  To  them  this 
is  the  great  day  of  assizes.  The  day 
will  however  be  at  least  i,ooo  years 
in  duration.  Its  approach  will  be 
marked  by  many  signs :  the  faith 
will  decay  among  men,  wickedness 
and  corruption  will  be  rampant,  the 
meanest  persons  shall  be  advanced 
to  eminent  dignity,  there  shall  be 
tumults  and  seditions,  wars  and 
distress  in  the  world  ;  the  sun  shall 
rise  in  the  west,  a  "  beast "  shall 
arise  out  of  the  earth,  and  appear 
in  the  holy  temple  of  Makkah, 
having  the  head  of  a  bull,  the  eye 
of  a  hog,  the  ears  of  an  elephant,  the 
horns  of  a  stag,  the  neck  of  an 
ostrich,  the  breast  of  a  lion,  the 
color  of  a  tiger,  the  back  of  a  cat,  the 
tail  of  a  ram,  the  legs  of  a  camel, 
and  the  voice  of  an  ass.  About  this 
time  the  Antichrist  shall   appear. 

41 


ISLAM :  OR, 

One-eyed,  with  the  word  Kafir  or 
**  Infidel  "  written  on  his  forehead, 
he  will  appear  in  Syria  riding  on 
a  white  ass,  followed  by  70,000 
Jews,  and  shall  continue  on  the 
earth  for  fourteen  months,  conquer- 
ing and  devastating  until  he  be  de- 
stroyed by  Jesus,  who  shall  de- 
scend from  heaven  and  establish 
the  religion  of  Islam  throughout 
the  whole  world.  Then  the  Mahdi 
shall  appear. 

These  with  many  other  marvel- 
lous signs  shall  portend  the  near 
approach  of  the  Awful  Day  when 
the  first  blast  of  the  angel  trump 
shall  strike  terror  to  every  heart  in 
heaven  and  earth.  A  second  blast 
will  visit  with  death  every  creature 
in  the  universe.  The  third  trum- 
pet blast  of  the  angel,  now  himself 
raised  from  the  dead,  will  restore 
all  to  life,  when  the  judgment  will 
begin.  Then  shall  every  beast  that 
has  suffered  at  the  hands  of  a  cruel 
master  tread  upon  the  prostrate 
form  of  his  persecutor.  Then  shall 
the  wicked  be  brought  forth  with 
42 


THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  TURK. 

blackened  faces,  backbiters  in  the 
form  of  apes,  tyrants  in  the  form 
of  swine,  hypocrites  gnawing  their 
tongues,  the  proud  and  vainglori- 
ous clad  in  garments  daubed  with 
pitch.  These  shall  all  be  obliged 
to  pass  over  a  bridge  so  narrow 
that  they  shall  slip  off  it  into  the 
gaping  vortex  of  hell  underneath. 
The  righteous,  by  which  we  are  to 
understand  the  faithful  of  every 
age  and  dispensation,  shall  be 
brought  forth  in  honor,  clad  in 
bright  and  beautiful  garments, 
seated  on  white  -  winged  camels 
with  saddles  of  gold.  To  them 
shall  be  opened  the  gates  of  Para- 
dise, into  which  they  will  be  ush- 
ered, where,  seated  on  sofas  gar- 
nished with  silk  and  precious  stones, 
they  shall  sport  themselves  in  the 
companionship  of  the  black-eyed 
girls  of  Paradise,  eating  the  lus- 
cious fruits  of  Eden,  drinking  the 
spicy  waters  oi  Al  KautJiar  out  of 
vessels  of  gold. 

It  was  this  vision  which  enabled 
the  fiery  Saracen  to  rush  to  certain 

43 


ISLAM  ;  OR, 

death  in  the  exultant  hope  of  mar- 
tyrdom. It  is  this  hope  which 
ever  recruits  the  ranks  of  the  Gha- 
zies  of  Afghanistan  or  the  fanatical 
Darwesh  of  the  Soudan.  To  them 
warfare  against  infidels  is  a  merit, 
while  death  in  such  a  cause  is  a 
sure  passport  to  Paradise. 

We  now  must  notice  briefly  the 
practice  of  the  Moslem  religion. 
It  is  summed  up  under  five  heads : 
the  reading  of  the  Kalima,  observ- 
ance of  stated  prayers,  fasting, 
giving  of  legal  alms,  and  pilgrim- 
age to  Makkah. 

By  reading  the  Kalima  is  meant 
repeating  the  formula  La  ilah  illil- 
lah  wa  MoJianiviediir  riisiil  iillaJi;  i.  e., 
"  There  is  no  god  but  Allah,  and 
Mohammed  is  the  apostle  of  Allah." 
This  formula  must  be  repeated  at 
least  once  before  death,  with  a  sin- 
cere heart  and  a  loud  voice,  in  the 
presence  of  witnesses. 

The  duty  of  prayer  requires  the 
punctilious  observance  of  five  daily 
stated  prayers.     Early  in  the  morn- 
ing, at  the  very  first  streak  of  dawn, 
44 


THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  TURK. 

the  Muazzin's  call  will  announce 
the  time  for  the  first  prayer.  The 
next  prayer  must  be  offered  at 
midday,  the  third  at  about  three 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  the  fourth 
at  sunset,  and  the  fifth  when  night 
has  closed  in.  These  prayers  should 
be  said  in  the  Arabic  language,  and 
if  possible  the  men  should  assemble 
in  the  Mosque  for  that  purpose. 
They  may  be,  however,  and  gen- 
erally are,  offered  wherever  the 
Moslem  may  be  at  the  prayer  hour. 
It  is  an  impressive  scene  to  witness 
Moslems  as  they  drop  their  imple- 
ments of  daily  labor  and  either  in 
companies  or  alone  spread  a  sheet 
upon  the  ground  and  proceed  to 
say  their  prayers.  It  may  be  on 
the  roadside  or  at  a  railroad  station, 
no  matter  where,  no  matter  by 
whom  surrounded,  the  Moslem  says 
his  prayers.  His  witness  for  his 
faith  is  clear  and  unequivocal.  He 
glories  in  his  faith.  On  Friday 
Moslems  assemble  punctiliously  at 
the  Mosque,  where  special  prayers 
suited  to  this  holy  day  are  offered. 

45 


ISLAM  ;  OR, 

Sometimes  the  service  is  accom- 
panied by  a  discourse  or  sermon. 
Prayers  over,  the  faithful  return  to 
their  usual  occupations. 

The  duty  of  fasting  relates  par- 
ticularly to  the  fast  of  Ramadhan. 
This  is  a  sacred  month.  During 
the  entire  month  the  Moslem  is 
obliged  to  fast  from  sunrise  until 
sunset.  No  morsel  of  food  or  drop 
of  water  may  pass  his  lips  during 
the  day.  This  in  hot  climates  in 
the  long  days  of  summer  is  a  serious 
trial.  Many  lose  their  health  and 
some  their  lives  through  the  rigor 
of  this  fast.  The  sick  and  the 
weakly  are  exempted  on  condition 
they  fast  an  equal  number  of  days 
at  another  time.  During  the  night 
the  Moslem  is  free  to  eat  and  drink 
as  much  as  he  pleases.  The  world- 
ly minded,  if  sick,  escape  the  rigor 
of  this  fast  by  turning  as  much  of 
the  day  into  the  night  as  possible. 

Almsgiving  (Zakat)  is  a  kind  of 

legal  tax,  corresponding   in  some 

measure  to  the  tithe  of   Judaism. 

It  is  assessed  variously  according 

46 


THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  TURK. 

to  the  employment  of  the  giver. 
It  amounts  to  two  and  one  half  per 
cent,  of  his  gains  or  income,  and  is 
spent  in  the  cause  of  religion  and 
the  support  of  the  poor.  It  must 
not  be  inferred  that  this  is  the  sum 
total  of  Moslem  charity.  To  their 
credit  it  must  be  said  they  are  gen- 
erous and  kind  to  the  poor  and 
hospitable  to  travelers  and  stran- 
gers. During  the  late  war  between 
the  Turks  and  the  Russians  the 
Mohammedans  of  India  contribu- 
ted large  sums  for  the  relief  of  the 
sick  and  wounded  among  their 
co-religionists.  In  one  city  the  wo- 
men even  took  off  their  ornaments 
of  gold  and  silver  and  put  them 
into  the  contribution  plate. 

The  pilgrimage  to  Makkah,  like 
the  duty  of  prayer  and  fasting  and 
almsgiving,  is  enjoined  by  the 
teaching  of  the  Quran  and  sanction- 
ed by  the  example  of  the  prophet. 
Every  Moslem  with  health  and 
wealth  sufficient  to  enable  him  to 
perforrQ  the  pilgrimage  to  Mak- 
kah must  do  so  at  least  once  in  his 

47 


ISLAM;  OR, 

lifetime.  The  rites  connected  with 
the  Hajj  or  Pilgrimage  are  a  relic 
of  Arab  heathenism,  but  are  purged 
of  all  idolatrous  sentiments.  The 
rite  which  most  nearly  approaches 
to  the  idolatrous  is  that  of  kissing 
the  Black  Stone  in  the  corner  of 
the  Kaabah,  or  sacred  temple  at 
Makkah.  It  is  recorded  in  one  of 
the  traditions  that  the  Caliph  Omar, 
when  first  he  performed  the  pil- 
grimage after  his  conversion  to  Is- 
lam, addressed  this  stone  thus : 
"Verily  I  know  that  thou  art  a 
stone ;  thou  dost  no  good  or  harm 
in  the  world,  and  if  it  was  not  that 
I  saw  the  prophet  kiss  thee  I  would 
not  kiss  thee." 

In  addition  to  these  practical 
duties  of  Islam  we  may  add  that 
of  Jahad,  or  Crusade.  This  duty 
was  recognized  in  the  days  of  Mo- 
hammed. Indeed  it  was  to  the 
performance  of  it  that  the  mission 
of  the  prophet  owes  its  success. 
According  to  the  teaching  of  Is- 
lam, everv  Moslem  must  hold  him- 
self  ready  to  fight  in  the  Way  of 
48 


THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  TURK. 

God.  This  either  means  to  fight 
in  defence  of  the  faith,  or,  under 
competent  guidance,  to  make  war 
upon  the  infidels  with  a  view  to 
their  conversion  or  extirpation.  It 
is  under  shelter  of  this  doctrine 
that  Mohammedans  have  always 
felt  themselves  at  liberty  to  assault 
any  nation  or  tribe  of  unbelievers. 
It  is  under  shelter  of  this  principle 
that  Arab  slave-hunters  practise 
their  bloody  work  in  Central  Afri- 
ca and  Turks  ruthlessly  slaughter 
Christians  in  Armenia. 

The  recent  atrocities  perpetrated 
by  Turks  and  Kurds  in  Armenia 
present  to  us  a  striking  illustration 
of  the  terrible  cruelty  and  fiend- 
ish outrage  and  slaughter  which 
always  ensue  upon  a  jahad  or  cru- 
sade in  the  name  of  religion.  That 
the  massacres  in  Armenia  were 
prompted  by  religious  zeal  and 
emanated  from  the  Sultan  at  Con- 
stantinople and  his  advisers  seems 
certain.  The  following  extract 
from  the  statement  of  a  Moham- 
medan official  who  made  a  careful 
4  49 


ISLAM :  OR, 

inquiry  as  to  the  causes  and  extent 
of  the  massacres  at  Harpoot,  Arab- 
kir,  and  other  places,  fully  con- 
firms this  view : 

"  A  petition  in  behalf  of  Arme- 
nians was  given  to  the  powers  in 
the  hope  of  improving  their  con- 
dition. An  imperial  firman  was 
issued  for  carrying  out  the  reforms 
suggested  by  the  powers.  On  this 
account  the  Turkish  population 
was  much  excited  by  the  thought 
that  an  Armenian  principality  was 
to  be  established,  and  they  began 
to  show  great  hostilities  to  the 
poor  Armenians,  who  had  been 
obedient  to  them  and  with  whom 
they  had  lived  in  peace  for  more 
than  six  hundred  years.  In  addi- 
tion to  their  anger  was  added  the 
permission  and  help  of  the  govern- 
ment, by  which,  before  the  reforms 
were  undertaken,  the  whole  Turk- 
ish population  was  aroused  to  the 
evil  intent  of  obliterating  the  Ar- 
menian name ;  and  then  behold 
the  Turks  of  the  district,  joining 
with  neighboring  Kurdish  tribes 
50 


THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  TURK. 

by  the  thousand,  armed  with  weap- 
ons which  are  allowed  only  to  the 
army,  and  with  the  help  and  under 
the  guidance  of  Turkish  officials, 
in  an  open  manner  and  in  the 
daytime,  attacking  the  Armenian 
houses,  shops,  stores,  monasteries, 
churches  and  schools,  and  commit- 
ting fearful  atrocities. 

"■  After  plundering  these  places 
they  burned  many  houses,  church- 
es, monasteries,  schools  and  mar- 
kets with  the  petroleum  they  had 
brought  with  them,  and  the  large 
stone  churches  which  they  could 
not  burn  they  ruined  in  other  ways. 
Some  churches  were  converted  into 
mosques  and  devoted  to  Moslem 
worship,  and  books  sacred  to  Chris- 
tians were  torn  in  pieces.  Besides 
this,  priests,  laymen,  women  and 
even  small  children  were  made 
Moslems  by  force.  They  put  white 
turbans  on  the  men  and  cut  the 
hair  of  the  women  in  bangs  like 
that  of  the  Moslem  women,  and 
made  them  go  through  Moslem 
prayers.    Married  women  and  girls 

51 


ISLAM :  OR, 

were  defiled,  against  the  sacred  law, 
and  some  were  married  by  force 
and  are  still  detained  in  Turkish 
houses.  Especially  in  Talu,  Seve- 
rek,  Malatia,  Arabkir  and  Choon- 
koosh  many  women  and  girls  were 
taken  to  the  soldiers'  barracks  and 
dishonored.  Many,  to  escape  such 
dishonor,  threw  themselves  into 
the  Euphrates,  and  some  commit- 
ted suicide  in  other  ways." 

The  influence  of  centuries  of  cul- 
ture in  this  kind  of  *'  holy  war  "  is 
seen  in  the  cold-blooded  indiffer- 
ence of  Moslem  people  everywhere. 
The  writer  says,  *'  The  strange 
thing  about  it  all  is  that  very 
few  Moslems  seemed  to  revolt  at 
such  deeds.  Men  of  intelligence 
and  education  view  these  deeds 
with  complacency."  Many  months 
have  passed  since  the  Christian 
world  was  horrified  by  the  first  of 
these  massacres.  Every  Christian 
nation  has  voiced  its  protest  against 
them.  We  have  yet  to  hear  a  sin- 
gle word  of  disapproval  from  any 
Moslem  people  on  earth. 
52 


THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  TURK. 

This  has  ever  been  the  favorite 
missionary  agency  of  Islam.  When 
certain  apologists  for  Islam  insti- 
tute a  comparison  between  the  rel- 
ative success  of  Moslem  and  Chris- 
tian missions  they  ought  in  all 
fairness  to  compare  and  then  care- 
fully catalogue  the  means  used  by 
these  missionaries  and  the  moral 
results  of  their  work. 

Such,  then,  is  the  religion  of 
Islam,  at  least  in  its  fundamental 
principles.  Like  every  other  relig- 
ion it  has  been  influenced  by  the 
national  life  and  customs  of  its 
votaries.  Like  Christianity  it  has 
been  divided  by  schisms  and  her- 
esies. There  have  been  no  less 
than  1 50  sects  of  Moslems.  Some 
of  these  divisions  have  been  polit- 
ical in  their  character,  others  doc- 
trinal or  philosophical.  The  great 
schism  of  the  Sunni  and  Shiah 
sects  dates  from  the  earliest  years 
of  Islam  and  was  due  to  a  dispute 
as  to  who  should  be  the  Caliph  or 
successor  of  Mohammed.  The 
Shiahs  claimed  that  AH,  the  hus- 

53 


ISLAM;  OR, 

band  of  Fatima,  Mohammed's 
daughter,  should  have  been  the 
first  Caliph.  They  therefore  re- 
ject Abu  Baqr,  Omar  and  Othman, 
the  first  three  caliphs,  as  usurpers. 
This  political  division  has  led  to 
many  bloody  wars.  The  division 
between  Persia  and  Turkey  is  yet 
as  a  wide  and  impassable  stream. 

A  modern  sect  of  considerable 
influence  in  Arabia  and  India  is 
that  of  the  Wahabbis,  who  have  en- 
deavored to  reform  many  abuses 
and  to  bring  back  Islam  to  its  orig- 
inal purity.  The  political  power 
of  this  sect  was  broken  by  the  late 
Mohammed  Ali  of  Egypt. 

On  theological  grounds  Islam  has 
had  many  sects.  The  Ali-IUahis 
believe  that  God  was  incarnate  in 
the  various  Imaums  or  Leaders  in 
all  dispensations  down  to  the  time 
of  Ali,  who  was  the  last.  It  is 
interesting  to  notice  how  the 
thought  of  incarnation  of  the 
godhead  forced  itself  in  upon  the 
bold  unitarianism  of  Islam.  An- 
other sect,  the  Mushabiites,  taught 
54 


THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  TURK. 

that  God  possessed  a  human  form. 
Still  another  held  that  though  the 
body  of  God  was  human  in  outline 
yet  it  was  a  luminary  body. 

The  discussion  as  to  the  attri- 
butes of  divinity,  which  led  to 
the  aforementioned  heresies,  re- 
sulted in  the  rise  of  the  Mutazal- 
ites,  who  may  be  called  the  liberal 
or  rationalistic  sect  of  Islam.  This 
sect  has  been  revived  in  India 
under  the  leadership  of  Sayed 
Amir  Ali  of  Calcutta. 

The  sect  of  the  Sufis  or  mystics 
adopt  a  pantheistic  philosophy  and 
endeavor  to  explain  the  Quran  in 
accord  with  it.  The  result  is  an 
orthodox  highly  spiritual  worship, 
on  the  one  hand,  and  a  blind  fatal- 
ism, amounting  to  atheism,  on  the 
other.  The  influence  of  these  vari- 
ous heterodox  schools  of  thought 
upon  the  Moslem  mind  is  of  no  small 
moment  to  the  cause  of  Christian 
evano^elization.  These  elements 
of  Moslem  nationality  afford  the 
most  hopeful  subjects  of  mission- 
ary endeavor.      When,  therefore, 

55 


ISLAM ;  OR, 

it  becomes  subject  to  a  Christian 
power,  as  in  India  and  Egypt,  it 
loses,  so  to  speak,  its  right  arm.* 
On  its  theological  side  Islam  is 
supported  by  an  extensive  litera- 
ture and  a  regular  system  of  theo- 
logical instruction.  In  addition  to 
this,  thousands  of  men  of  no  mean 
intellectual  calibre  spend  their 
whole  lives  in  its  study  and  propa- 
gation. Vast  institutions  of  learn- 
ing have  been  established,  and  are 
still  supported  by  the  generosity 
of  princes  and  kings,  which  edu- 
cate Moslem  youths  without  allow- 
ing them  to  come  under  any  other 

*  The  notion  of  patriotism  is  entirely  subor- 
dinate to  that  of  religion.  The  lawful  rulers 
of  earthly  kingdoms  are  Moslems,  who  ac- 
knowledge the  hierarchy  at  Constantinople. 
The  Sultan  is  king  of  kings,  who  may  kill  four- 
teen of  his  subjects  every  day,  if  he  will,  and 
that  without  question.  The  Moslem  owes  alle- 
giance to  no  other  than  a  Moslem  government. 
He  cannot  therefore  be  at  once  a  faithful  sub- 
ject of  Christian  dominion  and  a  consistent 
follower  of  orthodox  Islam.  He  is  always 
bound  to  obey  the  call  of  the  Caliph  to  holy 
war.  These  facts  cannot  be  too  well  consider- 
ed by  all  our  statesmen  in  their  study  of  the 
Moslem  problem. 

56 


THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  TURK. 

religious  influences.  Such  a  relig- 
ion, holding  sway  over  one-eighth 
of  the  population  of  the  globe,  sec- 
ond only  to  Christianity  in  numer- 
ical strength  among  the  religions 
of  the  world,  occupying  the  chief 
centres  of  influence  in  the  Eastern 
world,  commands  our  respect,  in 
spite  of  its  appalling  errors,  while 
it  forces  upon  us  the  conviction 
that  it  is,  as  we  have  already  said, 
the  principal  rival  of  our  holy  re- 
ligion. 

Does  it  not  then  seem  a  little 
strange  that,  what  with  our  mis- 
sions to  Mormons  and  Jews,  our 
churches  in  America  have  hardly 
thought  of  a  special  mission  to 
Moslems  ?  True  it  is  that  men  are 
sent  to  India,  Egypt,  and  Turkey 
and  Persia,  who  in  the  providence 
of  God  are  led  to  devote  them- 
selves specially  to  the  Moslems;  and 
yet  the  churches  and  even  boards 
of  missions  seem  to  think  of  Mos- 
lems very  much  as  they  do  of  the 
heathen  elsewhere.  But  this  is 
not  enough.     It  is  only  reasonable 

57 


ISLAM  ;  OR, 

to  require  of  missionaries  sent  to 
Moslem  lands  such  preparation  for 
their  work  as  shall  enable  them  to 
at  least  understand  the  thoughts 
and  feelings  of  these  followers  of 
the  false  prophet,  and  so  be  able  to 
direct  them  intelligently  to  the 
truth  of  that  gospel  which  is  at- 
tested by  the  Quran,  and  to  the 
claims  of  that  Saviour  who  is  the 
Sinless  Prophet  of  Islam,  and 
whom  they  confess  to  be  now  ex- 
alted in  heaven,  and  who  is  to 
come  again  to  establish  the  true 
religion  of  God  upon  the  earth. 

We  do  not  wish  to  be  understood 
as  disparaging  what  has  been  done 
for  the  work  of  missions  among 
Moslems.  We  only  desire  to  ad- 
vocate an  improvement  of  method. 
We  would  plead  for  a  more  thor- 
ough and  systematic  training  of 
men  for  work  among  Mohamme- 
dans everywhere. 

The  question  is  sometimes  asked, 
What  is  the  influence  of  Moham- 
medanism upon  the  moral  charac- 
ter of  Moslems?  In  reply  to  this 
58 


THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  TURK. 

question,  it  must  be  admitted  that 
wherever  it  brings  to  its  allegiance 
a  grossly  idolatrous  people,  espe- 
cially if  they  be  fetish  or  devil  wor- 
shippers, it  does  raise  their  moral 
status.  Cannibalism  and  infanti- 
cide are  abolished  ;  idolatrous  cus- 
toms, degrading  and  immoral,  are 
obliterated  ;  certain  fixed  rules  are 
enforced  in  respect  to  society  and 
the  State ;  thieves  and  murderers 
are  severely  punished ;  the  use  of 
intoxicating  drinks  is  greatly  di- 
minished if  not  absolutely  prevent- 
ed ;  children  are  educated  to  some 
extent  and  trained  up  as  the  wor- 
shippers of  the  true  God  ;  certain 
ideas  of  honor,  courage  and  devo- 
tion are  inculcated,  and  so  the  scale 
of  morality  is  greatly  advanced ; 
and  yet  there  is  a  limit  to  Moslem 
progress  in  morals  a  long  way  this 
side  the  goal  of  Christian  ethics. 
The  permissions  of  the  Quran  in 
respect  to  polygamy,  concubinage 
and  divorce,  the  sanction  of  sla- 
very and  holy  war,  the  example  of 
Mohammed  himself,  the  adoption 

59 


ISLAM ;  OR, 

of  the  principle  that  the  end  justi- 
fies the  means — thereby  consecra- 
ting every  form  of  deception  and 
lying,  every  sort  of  persecution 
and  violence  to  the  cause  of  relig- 
ion— these  things  effectually  block 
the  wheels  of  progress  in  ethical 
spheres,  so  that  Moslem  nations 
have  hardly  ever  reached  even  the 
planes  of  moral  purity  occupied  by 
the  most  degenerate  Christian  na- 
tions. The  difference  between  the 
immoral  Christian  and  the  immor- 
al Moslem  may  be  thus  described : 
the  Christian  is  immoral  in  spite 
of  his  religion  ;  the  Moslem  is  im- 
moral because  of  his  religion.  It 
is,  indeed,  chiefly  owing  to  this 
cause  that  Moslem  empires  are  not 
enduring.  The  social  and  national 
life  is  undermined  by  a  fatal  dis- 
ease, which,  like  leprosy,  festers 
and  rots,  though  the  life  may  be 
long  continued. 

Another  question  has  been  asked ; 
namely,  whether  Islam  has  accom- 
plished good  to  the  world.      Aside 
from  the  a  priori  argument  that  the 
60 


THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  TURK. 

Lord,  who  has  all  power  in  heaven 
and  earth,  overrules  all  things  for 
good  to  his  church,  we  think  the 
history  of  the  world  will  show  that, 
while  Islam  has  wrought  the  ma- 
terial ruin  of  every  people  she  has 
conquered,  yet  she  has  been  made 
the  instrument  of  accomplishing  a 
good  deal  towards  the  spiritual 
and  intellectual  advancement  of 
the  world.  She  has  ever  been  a 
scourge  to  idolaters  in  the  church 
and  out  of  it.  She  has  borne  wit- 
ness to  a  living,  personal  God  in 
the  midst  of  generations  of  hea- 
thens, moulding  their  language 
and  thought  in  monotheistic  forms, 
breaking  up  powerful  systems  of 
heathenism,  and  thus  in  a  sense 
preparing  the  way  of  the  Lord. 
Thus  has  she  been  used  by  God  to 
accomplish  his  purposes.  Every 
reader  of  church  history  knows 
how  much  the  success  of  the  Ref- 
ormation was  due  to  the  presence 
of  the  Turk  at  Constantinople. 
Islam  has  been  a  hammer  in  the 
hand  of  the  Almighty  wherewith 

6i 


ISLAM ;  OR, 

he  has  smitten  his  enemies.  That 
work  seems  to  have  been  accom- 
plished. The  nations  ruled  by  the 
Moslems  have  lost  their  prestige 
and  seem  to  be  doomed  to  speedy- 
subjection  to  Christian  powers. 
Their  power  to  destroy  and  to  per- 
secute has  already  been  consider- 
ably curtailed.  Almost  one-half 
of  the  Moslems  of  the  world  are 
now  under  Christian  rule.  Among 
them  the  gospel  is  preached  by 
the  peaceful  messengers  of  Christ 
without  fear.  Those  who  choose 
to  abjure  Islam  are  free  to  profess 
their  faith  in  Christ  without  fear 
of  bastinado  or  death.  Not  only  so, 
but  Lslam  is  being  honeycombed 
by  influences  which  have  greatly 
weakened  its  hold  upon  its  own  ad- 
herents. What  with  Babism  in  Per- 
sia, Wahabbiism  in  Arabia,  Syed- 
Ahmadism  in  India,  Mahdiism  in 
Egypt  and  Central  Africa,  Islam 
is  sorely  rent  by  internal  dissen- 
sions. Not  least  important  is  the 
influence  of  Protestant  Christian- 
ity through  its  missions  and  edu- 
62 


THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  TURK. 

cational  institutions.  In  Syria, 
Turkey,  Egypt  and  Persia  many 
thoughtful  Moslems  are  studying 
the  Word  of  God.  Some  believe, 
though  unable  to  make  a  public 
profession  of  their  faith.  In  India 
many  hundreds  of  the  followers  of 
Islam  have  publicly  abjured  that 
faith  and  been  received  into  the 
church.  Thousands  of  Moslem 
youths  are  being  educated  in 
Christian  schools.  Many  of  the 
teachers  in  these  schools  and  many 
of  the  most  eloquent  and  learned 
of  the  native  ministers  in  the 
church  were  once  the  votaries  of 
Islam.  The  leaven  is  already  work- 
ing in  this  mass,  and  our  hope  is 
that  it  may  speedily  leaven  the 
whole  lump. 

The  Moslems  have  a  tradition 
that  when  Masih-ud-Dajjal,  the 
Antichrist,  shall  sorely  press  the 
Moslems  "  all  on  a  sudden  pray- 
ers will  begin,  and  Jesus,  Son  of 
Mary,  will  come  down  and  act  as 
Imaum,  or  Leader,  to  them.  And 
when  Dajjal,  this  enemy  of  God, 

63 


ISLAM. 

shall  see  Jesus,  he  will  fear  to  be 
near,  dissolving  away  like  salt  in 
water.  And  if  Jesus  lets  him 
alone,  verily  he  will  melt  and  per- 
ish, and  God  will  kill  him  by  the 
hand  of  Jesus."  Let  us  hope  the 
day  is  not  far  distant  when  Jesus 
shall  indeed  become  the  Leader  of 
these  multitudes,  and  that  the 
forces  of  Antichrist  shall  melt  away 
like  salt  in  water  and  perish  before 
**  the  sword  of  his  Spirit "  and  ''  the 
brightness  of  his  coming." 


64 


.;%g 


islam  ••  or,  The  re  y      ^^^^.ary-Speer  Lj^ra 


^ 


